Face conveyor with guide tube for planer haulage means



1967 J. M. HERMES ETAL ,3

FACE CONVEYOR WITH GUIDE TUBE FOR PLANER HAULAGE MEANS Filed July 29, 1963 PIC-3.!

W W W W W N FIG 2 FIG 3 JOHN/u as M. HRMEs Izaak 5. WIN DOM/HELE'A/ United States Patent Office 3,297,353 Patented Jan. 10, 1967 3,297,363 FACE CQNVEYGR WITH GUIDE TUBE FOR PLANER HAULAGE IVEANS Johannes M. Hermes, Heerlen, and Izaak S. Van Dornmelen, Hoensbroek, Netherlands, assignors to Stainlcarbon N .V., Heerlen, Netherlands Filed July 29, 1963, Ser. No. 298,344 5 Claims. (Cl. 299-34) The present invention relates to an articulated face conveyor provided with a guide along which a coal-winning machine, e.g., a coal plough can be hauled.

In the practice of coal-winning by means of a plough, this machine is hauled along the coal face while guided by a face conveyor which is installed parallel with the face for receiving the loosened coal. The plough is hauled by a chain, cable or other hauling member having both ends connected to the plough and extending over chain wheels, drums or other reversing gear at the ends of the face.

It has been proposed to provide the conveyor sections with component sections of a plough guide of tubular form within which the returning reach of the hauling member can be accommodated so that such reach does not trail through loosened coal on the floor of the working space. In this way the force required to move the plough is reduced, the safety of working is improved and disintegration of coal is reduced.

A disadvantage of the prior proposal is that if a plough guide section becomes damaged and has to be replaced, the hauling member has to be uncoupled from one end of the plough and withdrawn along the tubular guide in order that the damaged section can be removed. After fitting a new plough guide section, the hauling member must then be threaded back along the guide tube and recoupled to the plough. These operations take quite a time and involve considerable stagnation of the coal-getting operations. Moreover, if rupture of the returning reach of the hauling member occurs, the location of this rupture is difiicult since there is no access to the said reach until one or more conveyor sections are removed.

The present invention provides a construction which does not show these drawbacks. This is achieved in that, according to the invention, the component parts of a coalwinning machine guide are attached to the conveyor sections at one side thereof through the agency of connecting parts which in the assembled conveyor form a guideway in which the returning reach of a hauling member for a winning machine can run, and which are so constructed and detachably connected to the said machine guide components and/or to the conveyor sections that when the conveyor is installed for use and a said hauling member is in position, a guide component can be disconnected from its conveyor section and removed while the hauling member remains in place.

Preferably the machine guide components are detachably connected to the connecting parts. In that case the connecting parts may be permanently secured to one side wall of the conveyor but it is preferable for the connecting parts to be also detachable from the said wall, and preferably the conveyor is constructed so that the said connecting parts can if necessary be secured to the other side wall of the conveyor.

Preferably each conveyor section is fitted with two or more said connecting parts which extend over a part only of the length of the conveyor section. When the connecting parts have such restricted length so as to form a discontinuous guideway for the hauling member, the return reach of the hauling member is exposed between successive connecting parts and the conveyor can be constructed so that such exposed parts of the hauling member smooth travel of the hauling member.

can be inspected on site without any dismantling of parts, e.g., from a position above the conveyor or by tilting conveyor sections and looking underneath. In this way the particular conveyor section which must be removed before the cable can be repaired can be determined before actually removing any section of the conveyor.

Preferably the connecting parts are forked blocks or brackets, providing a groove the open top of which is wide enough to pass a hauling member. Such a forked construction is necessary if the brackets are permanently connected to the machine guide components; the brackets must open towards the conveyor sections so that when the bolts or other releasable fastenings employed for connecting brackets to a conveyor section are removed, the machine guide component, with its connecting brackets, can be taken away Without having to uncouple the hauling member. However, even when, as is preferred, the machine guide components can be removed while leaving the connecting brackets in place on the conveyor sections, it is still an advantage for the brackets to be of forked construction, the brackets in this case opening to- Wards the machine guide components. The hauling member can then simply be laid in the bracket grooves when the said machine guide components are removed. Connecting parts of such construction can be robust and capable of transmitting great transverse forces from the winning machine guide to the conveyor, while ensuring proper guidance of the returning reach of the hauling member.

The guidance of a hauling member in formed connecting blocks as aforesaid can be improved by providing tubes through which the hauling member can run and which fit into the blocks. Such tubes may be short, one to each connecting block.

In the prior proposed construction above referred to the tube through which the return reach of the hauling member runs has to be formed in sections which fit together to form a continuous guide for the coal plough and in order that the plough can slide along the tube special attention must be paid to the quality of the outer tube surface. These considerations do not arise in the case of guide tubes forming part of a conveyor construction according to the invention as above referred to. Moreover, as the tubes do not require to interconnect one with the other, their ends can be flared to promote The conveyor may be constructed so that the tubes are held in position in the forked connecting blocks by the winning-machine guide sections when these are secured in place.

Any gaps which are present between the machine guide, the successive connecting parts for such guide, and the adjacent side wall of the conveyor, can be closed off at the top by suitable attached strips so as to prevent coal grit from falling down on to the hauling member and getting into its guideway.

The tubes can be sufiiciently short to permit their inner faces to be hardened, e.g., by Stellite-spraying or flame hardening, as is not feasible with long guide tube sections as used in the prior proposal.

An embodiment of the invention, selected by way of example, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a cross-section of a face conveyor and a coal plough in position thereon,

FIGURE 2 is an elevation of one of the connecting brackets for the plough guide sections, and

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III-III of FIG- URE 1.

The side walls 2 and 2' of a continuous-flow scraper conveyor 1 have longitudinal recesses 3 and 3. Pairs of lu-gs 4 are welded in the recess 3, and between the lugs 3 of each pair, blocks 5 are held by means of bolts 6 (United Kingdom patent specification No. 729,078).

A bracket 7 in the form of a forked or U-shaped block is connected to each block 5 by means of a bolt 8. The flat bottom 9 of each bracket 7 lies against the side wall 2 of the conveyor.

Against the outer ends of the limbs 10 of the brackets a guide wall 11 for the coal plough 12 is fixed by means of bolts 13. The guide wall is formed in sections, one to each conveyor section. The coal plough is hauled along the guide by means of an endless chain 14, the returning reach 14' of which is guided through short tubes 15 accommodated in the grooves 16 of the U-shaped brackets.

The ends 17 of the tubes 15 are flared, so that the links of the chain do not catch against the ends of the tubes. The tubes are metal tubes and in order to reduce wear to a minimum the inside surfaces of the tubes have been flame-hardened. The ends 17 are shaped with fiat portions 18 and these portions are located adjacent and parallel with the sections of the plough guide wall 11 so that the tubes 15 are secured in place by the plough guide wall.

The conveyor and the plough guide wall are in sections having a length of about 1.5 In. Each conveyor section is fitted with two U-shaped brackets 7, each having a width (measured along the conveyor section) of about 15 cm. The spaces between successive brackets are bridged at the top by strips 19, which prevent coal grit falling into the space between the conveyor wall 2 and the plough guide wall. The strips 19 are located with reference to the brackets 7 by pins 20 which are retained by the side wall 2 of the conveyor when the brackets 7 are attached thereto, the strips 19 being clamped between the brackets 7 and the wall 2.

The return reach 14' of the chain thus travels in a space which is closed off at the top and thus cannot cause hindrance or danger. To replace a section of the plough guide wall it is not necessary to withdraw the return reach of the chain: the section can simply be unscrewed from its connecting brackets and removed. Should this return reach become ruptured, the rear side wall 2' of one or more of the conveyor sections are lifted sufficiently to enable the chain to be inspected from underneath, until the location of the rupture is found. Then one or more of the conveyor sections at this location can be temporarily removed to enable the chain to be rep-aired. The formation of a plough guide wall so that it extends downwardly at an inclination, partly under the plough, and to a level below the bottom of the adjacent side wall of the conveyor is described and claimed in our co-pending US. application Serial No. 221,271, filed September 4, 1962, now Patent No. 3,245,722. This construction facilitates lateral tilting of the conveyor as above referred to.

We claim:

1. A continuous-flow articulated face conveyor comprising a plurality of conveyor sections, each of said sections having side walls, a sloping guide wall associated with each of said sections and adapted to guide winning means and intermediate mounting means including guide means for the return reach of hauling member for said coal winning means, said guide means comprising a metal tube fitted into said intermediate mounting means, said metal tube having a hardened inner face and the flared ends, said intermediate mounting means detachably connected to said sloping guide wall and to the side wall of said face conveyor section nearest the coal face so that when said conveyor is installed for use and said hauling member is in position, said sloping guide wall can be disconnected from its associated conveyor section and removed while the hauling member remains in place.

2. A continuous-flow articulated face conveyor comprising a plurality of conveyor sections, each of said sections having side walls, a sloping guide wall associated with each of said sections and adapted to guide coal winning means and intermediate mounting means including guide means for the return reach of hauling member for said coal Winning means, said guide means comprising a tube fitted into said intermediate mounting means, said intermediate mounting means comprising a forked bracket so that said hauling member can be laid in the groove of said bracket when the guide wall associated with the conveyor section is not in place, said intermediate mounting means detachably connected to said sloping guide Wall and to the said wall of said face conveyor section nearest the coal face so that when said conveyor is installed for use and said hauling member is in position said sloping guide wall can be disconnected from its asociated conveyor section and removed while the hauling member remains in place.

3. A conveyor according to claim 2 wherein the ends of said tube are flared.

4. A convey-or according to claim 3 wherein said tube is metal and wherein its inner face is hardened.

5. A continuous-flow articulated face conveyor comprising a plurality of conveyor sections, each of said sections having side Walls, a sloping guide wall associated with each of said sections and adapted to guide coal winning means and intermediate mounting means including guide means for the return reach of hauling member for said coal Winning means, said intermediate mounting means extending over a small part only of the length of said conveyor section and comprising a forked bracket so that said hauling member can be laid in the groove of said bracket when the guide wall associated with a conveyor section is not in place, said sloping guide wall comprising a plurality of guide wall sect-ions, each of which is secured against the outer ends of the limbs of said forked bracket of its associated conveyor section, said sloping guide wall being spaced from the upper portion of the adjacent side wall of the conveyor with strips being provided which close off the gap between said Walls above the level of said intermediate mounting means for said sloping guide wall, said guide means for the return reach of said hauling member comprising a metal tube fitted into said intermediate mounting means, said metal tube having a hardened inner face and flared ends, said intermediatemounting means detachably connected to said sloping guide wall and to the side wall of said face conveyor section nearest the coal face so that when said conveyor is installed for use and said hauling member is in position said sloping guide wall can be disconnected from its associated conveyor section and removed while the hauling member remains in place.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,702,697 2/1955 L-ob'be 299-34 3,137,484 6/1964 Fontein 299-34 ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiner. 

1. A CONTINUOUS-FLOW ARTICULATED FACE CONVEYOR COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CONVEYOR SECTIONS, EACH OF SAID SECTIONS HAVING SIDE WALLS, A SLOPING GUIDE WALL ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF SAID SECTIONS AND ADAPTED TO GUIDE WINNING MEANS AND INTERMEDIATE MOUNTING MEANS INCLUDING GUIDE MEANS FOR THE RETURN REACH OF HAULING MEMBER FOR SAID COAL WINNING MEANS, SAID GUIDE MEANS COMPRISING A METAL TUBE FITTED INTO SAID INTERMEDIATE MOUNTING MEANS, SAID METAL TUBE HAVING A HARDENED INNER FACE AND THE FLARED ENDS, SAID INTERMEDIATE MOUNTING MEANS DETACHABLY CONNECTED TO SAID SLOPING GUIDE WALL AND TO THE SIDE WALL OF SAID FACE CONVEYOR SECTION NEAREST THE COAL FACE SO THAT WHEN SAID CONVEYOR IS INSTALLED FOR USE AND SAID HAULING MEMBER IS IN POSITION, SAID SLOPING GUIDE WALL CAN BE DISCONNECTED FROM ITS ASSOCIATED CONVEYOR SECTION AND REMOVED WHILE THE HAULING MEMBER REMAINS IN PLACE. 